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By the time you read this, you’ll probably have received your mail-in ballot for the EFPD board recall election. You have heard and read a lot about each side’s positions and arguments. So let’s focus on a different question: How did we get here?

A fellow editor recently referred to me as an “excrement magnet”— and those of you familiar with editors know that this phrase has been modified for a family-friendly publication. I have found myself at ground zero for stories ranging from the JonBenet Ramsey slaying to the school shootings at Columbine and Platte Canyon high schools and Deer Creek Middle School.

Recently I was entertained by the Evergreen Chorale’s production of “1776.” I’m a regular at their productions, but this may be their best ever. Gary Muse’s portrayal of Ben Franklin was so good, I was sure Dr. Franklin was actually in the house.
The show was all about the goings-on of the Continental Congress, which convened in May 1776. Of course, we all know what transpired there in Philadelphia, but we may not remember some of the details.

When Democrats claimed control of both houses of the Colorado General Assembly in last November’s elections, there was little doubt that two priority issues would be enacted once the legislature convened. Just over halfway through the 120-day session, bills to establish civil unions and to allow illegal immigrants who matriculated at Colorado high schools to receive in-state tuition at public colleges and universities in our state have passed.

As a student living on Chicago’s south side in the early 1990s, I understood that the beginning of spring brought not only warmer days, but the sound of gunfire at night. Sometimes it would be the single shot from a handgun, and occasionally it would be the “pop-pop-pop” of a semi-automatic weapon.

During the first couple months of this year’s legislative session, I supported a bill on which the opponents didn’t feel at all constrained by either the truth or any kind of ethical behavior. And while my policy not to write about things I work on will spare you the details, it reminded me of a learning experience I had early in my career.

Truman Capote once told People magazine that he was writing a gossip-filled novel that would act like a gun: “There’s the handle, the trigger, the barrel, and, finally, the bullet. And when that bullet is fired from the gun, it’s going to come out with a speed and power like you’ve never seen — wham!” When a preview of “Answered Prayers” was published, it caused high society to go gunning for Capote just because he shot some people down in print.